Inyo County Districts: Bishop Unified School District welcomed most students in 2023-24 school year

Bishop Unified School District had the highest enrollment among Inyo County school districts, welcoming 1,932 students during the 2023-24 school year, according to the California Department of Education.

Of all the students welcomed in the 2023-24 school year, 51.8% of them were boys, and 48.2% were girls.

The most represented ethnicity among Bishop Unified School District students was Hispanic or Latino, accounting for 41.2% of the student population.

Among the seven districts in Inyo County, Inyo County Office of Education ranked second in enrollment numbers with 1,376 students, while Lone Pine Unified School District welcomed 299 students and ranked third in the 2023-24 school year.

Bishop Unified School District roughly covers schools within Inyo County and has a main office in Bishop.

In the previous school year, Bishop Unified School District also had the highest number of students among Inyo County districts.

After peaking at 6.3 million in the early 2000s, public school enrollment in California has marked its seventh consecutive decline in the 2023-24 school year, with projections indicating it could fall to approximately 5.2 million by the 2033-34 school year. This trend is attributed to lower birth rates, slowed immigration, and families relocating out of state due to high housing costs. Rural and coastal districts have been particularly affected, facing tough decisions such as school closures and staffing reductions.

Although chronic absenteeism in California decreased in 2023, it remains double the pre-pandemic rate. According to the Public Policy Institute of California, chronic absenteeism in the state public schools reached 25% in 2023, up from 12% in 2019.